Venezuela Earthquakes, Trump Senate Fight, Pentagon Shuffles

0:02Ayesha Rascoe:What appears to be two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela just seconds apart. It hit Caracas and a crowded region west of the capital. Buildings collapsed. The main airport is damaged. The government fears a high death toll as recovery efforts continue. I'm Michelle Martin. That's A. Martinez. And this is Up First from NPR News. Senate Republicans reversed course in Iran last night, voting against a resolution to end the war just a day after a bipartisan rebuke of President Trump. It was a peace offering to a furious president who had blown up a popular housing bill and berated his own party over loyalty.

0:35And one of the Army's top generals is set to retire, catching many by surprise. General Chris Donahue was the last U.S. soldier out of Afghanistan in 2021, and his exit fits a pattern of Pentagon shakeups. Stay with us. We've got news you need to start your day.

0:49Ayesha Rascoe:Thank you. top-tier cancer program. Request an appointment at keckmedicine.org slash usccancer or call them at 1-800-USC-CARE. This message comes from Fisher Investments. Senior Vice President Michael Hosmar reflects on one of their core values. We want to empower our clients with knowledge. In fact, Fisher is built on that idea. It comes straight from our founder, Ken Fisher, who believes the more our clients understand about the plan we've built for them, the more comfortable they will be with their personal financial situation. Learn more at FisherInvestments.com. Investing in securities involves the risk of loss.

1:59Venezuela was hit by what seems to be two powerful earthquakes on Wednesday. They are among the largest in its history. The capital, Caracas, is one of the worst affected areas.

2:14In sound from this verified video, you can hear a resident screaming in terror as their apartment sways violently from side to side.

2:21Ayesha Rascoe:The tremors, measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, struck just 39 seconds apart, bringing down buildings and severely damaging the international airport, which has now been closed. More than 20 aftershocks have followed. The government has declared a state of emergency amid fears of significant casualties. Reporter John Otis joins us from neighboring Colombia. John, do we have any updates at all on the extent of the damage and on casualties? There's still a lot of confusion over how much devastation was caused by these back-to-back earthquakes. The epicenter was west of Caracas, but that's a very densely populated area with some big industrial cities like Valencia and Barquisimeto.

3:00Now, from photos and videos, the damage looks quite extensive. of, you can see huge clouds of dust rising into the sky over collapsed buildings and rescue workers pulling survivors out of the rubble on stretchers. People were ducking for cover under tables at restaurants. They were dashing out of their homes into the streets. Venezuela's acting president, Delce Rodriguez, said that at least 164 people were killed and 971 were injured. And She said dozens of buildings collapsed in La Guaida, a town near the capital, which she described as a disaster area. Yesterday, it was a public holiday in Venezuela.

3:39So rather than at work, many people were at their homes when the quake struck. Now, models put together by the U.S. Geological Survey project that earthquakes this strong, and in such cases, there could be thousands of casualties. But that said, we don't have total numbers at this point. But people are already posting on social media and looking for missing loved ones. Okay, so what's been the response of the Venezuelan government? President Rodriguez spoke to the nation last night. She declared a state of emergency. She canceled public schools, and she called on doctors and nurses to immediately report to work.

4:13Let's listen.

4:20She's saying, my main message to our people is to show solidarity. and she goes on to say that her entire government has been mobilized and that the number one task right now is saving lives. Okay, what's been the response from the international community? President Rodriguez says she's received calls from the U.S., Mexico, Colombia, and many other countries offering to help. President Trump has said on social media that he's ordered U.S. agencies to prepare to move quickly. The U.S. State Department says it's mobilized a disaster assistance team and task force to Venezuela. It will also be sending search and rescue teams, medical and humanitarian supplies.

4:58It helps that the Rodriguez government's been working closely with Washington ever since the country's authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro, was ousted by U.S. special forces back in January. And the U.S. embassy has also reopened, so that should help. But remember, under the Maduro regime, Venezuela's economy collapsed due to corruption, mismanagement, and U.S. sanctions. Today, there's triple-digit inflation. The health systems in shambles, and firefighters and rescue workers lack equipment. So it's going to be tough for Venezuela to try to recover from this natural disaster. That's John Otis, who is reporting from neighboring Colombia.

5:34John, thank you. Thanks very much.

5:44President Trump shocked Washington yesterday when he blew up plans to sign the widely supported legislation to lower housing costs across America.

5:52Ayesha Rascoe:The president said he won't support the measure until the Senate passes his sweeping elections bill that so far Senate leaders have said just does not have the votes to pass. That's just the latest example of his frustration with those who won't follow his lead. Not only is the president showing his frustration with the Senate, but also U.S. allies around the world. I just want their loyalty. We don't need their money. We don't need anything. We have the most powerful military in the world by far. But I just want loyalty. You know, we're so loyal to them. NPR's Franco Ordonez has been following this.

6:24Franco, it feels like the president was celebrating festivus at the Capitol with the airing of grievances. What can you tell us? Yeah. I mean, first, he really abruptly canceled a popular bipartisan achievement in Washington that both Republicans and Democrats wanted really a rarity these days. It was, you know, a bill that focuses on one of the most important challenges Americans are facing right now, and that's affordability. But Trump was just not having it, saying that his pet issue, this election bill, had to be first. I mean, it really was kind of like a serenity now moment for some of these senators.

6:59You know, Trump later went into closed door meeting with some of those senators and expressed frustration with those who rebuked him on the Iran war, actually prompting them to reverse course later in the day and vote against a similar war powers resolution that they had approved earlier in the day. And then finally, A, in a meeting with Mark Ruta, NATO general secretary, Trump went off on European leaders who he felt did not support him enough in the war against Iran. As we heard, he said he doesn't want their money. All he wants is their loyalty. So on that elections bill, John Thune, the Senate majority leader, has explained that the votes are just not there to overcome a Democratic filibuster.

7:37Does President Trump not understand how the Senate works here? You know, it's not clear if he doesn't understand or if he just doesn't care about the norms and procedures of the Senate. I mean, Trump is more focused on having Republicans loyal to him than having a majority who can pass his legislation. You know, as you pointed out earlier, this speaks to much bigger issues about expanding his executive and political power and the loyalty he expects from those he works with. You know, that, of course, includes the Senate, who he ripped into earlier in the day over Iran, and of course, withheld support from the housing bill that could have helped the party in the fall elections.

8:12But it also extends to foreign leaders, which we also saw yesterday. After Trump criticized European leaders, Ruta, the NATO chief, was clearly trying to maintain ties between Trump and the rest of Europe. I mean, just showering him with praise and only delicately pushing back when Trump criticized those allies. There must be political implications, though, especially with the housing vote. Yeah, I mean, it speaks to the divide in the Republican Party just five months from the midterms. Republicans have been clamoring for Trump to turn from Iran and focus on domestic issues, to focus on the economy.

8:46And then here you have them delivering to his desk, something that addresses one of the things polls show Americans are most worried about, the cost of living. It would probably help him in the polls, it would help the party, and he doesn't sign it. I mean, House Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to meet with Trump today to go over some of the challenge Trump faces with Capitol Hill Republicans, but it just gives Democrats another example that they can point to and argue that Trump is focused more on election fights and not on kitchen table concerns. That is White House correspondent Franco Ordonez.

9:20Thanks a lot, Franco. Thanks, Abe.

9:29Army General Chris Donahue will shortly announce his retirement, according to two U.S. officials who are not authorized to speak publicly.

9:37Ayesha Rascoe:The news caught many by surprise. Donahue was a special forces soldier who now oversees U.S. Army operations across Europe and Africa. But he's perhaps best known as the last American soldier to depart Afghanistan in 2021 during the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces under the Biden administration. Here with more is NPR's Quill Lawrence. So, Quill, who is General Chris Donahue? Yeah, he's a West Point graduate, combat decorated veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and Syria. He was a leader in Delta Force, which is an elite group even within special forces. He also commanded the 82nd Airborne. He ran the Army's infantry school.

10:14In Europe, he's worked with Ukrainian military leaders. He's very highly respected across the military. But he was only in this four-star Army job in Europe for a year and a half. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegstad did come into office saying that there were far too many flag officers in the military. He shrunk down the possible jobs that four stars can go to. But Donahue would have seemed like a competitive candidate for any of those remaining jobs up to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. So do we know anything about the backstory behind the abrupt news of his retiring? No one has any official explanation.

10:52If you follow military Twitter and the Trump administration does seem to be concerned about what's said on social media, There are some trolls focusing on the fact that Donahue was in charge of trying to evacuate Kabul airport. You may remember from five years ago, this green tinted night vision photo of a man walking up the ramp of an aircraft, the last man out of Afghanistan. And people are sort of pinning that whole debacle, that messy conclusion of 20 messy years of war, a cap by the death of 13 U.S. troops and 170 Afghans in this suicide bombing at Abbey Gate. They're pinning that on Donahue.

11:28Okay, with that in mind, then, the Pentagon is now doing an investigation of what it calls a, quote, disastrous and embarrassing withdrawal and has promised accountability. So is Donahue to blame for any of that? There's really no evidence that he was. he arrived in Kabul after the city had fallen to the Taliban. He wasn't in charge of Abbey Gate. He came to run the withdrawal and coordinated hundreds of flights that probably saved thousands of people's lives. And that photo of him being the last man out is widely seen as what Wright looks like in the military, the way a commander takes responsibility.

12:00You know, it was a general who was the last man to board the plane, not some unlucky private. You know, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has had a few firings in his time as Secretary of Defense Does this fall into that pattern? Yes and no. Hegseth's been trimming the ranks. And as we've watched that play out, more than half of those cut have been female or black officers. And Hegseth has been doing this highly unusual thing where he reaches way down into the promotion lists to block people. And, of course, he summarily fired C.Q. Brown, who was a black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as soon as Hegseth came in.

12:32But Donahue is a white man, and he seems to fit even the, let's say, narrow vision of what Secretary Hegseth calls a warfighter. This seems much more like back in April when Army Chief of Staff General Randy George was fired by Hegseth with no explanation. The rumors were that George was seen as an ally of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who had been outshining Hegseth a bit, and this was some sort of retaliation. That upset many in Congress from both parties. And now at least the Senate version of this year's defense bill will require written justification from the Pentagon before promotions can be delayed or withheld like this.

13:12All right. That's NPR's Quill Lawrence. Quill, thank you. Thank you.

13:20And that's Up First for Thursday, June 25th. I'm E. Martinez.

13:23Ayesha Rascoe:And I'm Michelle Martin. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Tara Neal, Rebecca Metzler, Andrew Sussman, Mohammed Elberdisi, and H.D. Mai. It was produced by Zia Butch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hines. Our technical director is Carly Strange. And our deputy executive producer is Kelly Dickens. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.

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